By Hannah Stewart (Comm鈥�19)
Kim Christiansen is no stranger to the Denver area鈥攚hether you鈥檙e watching the nightly news or listening for your train at the airport. 听
Her personality, commitment and service to the university are a key reason she鈥檚 being recognized with an Alumni Recognition Award from 彩民宝典. 听
鈥淜im has served as an informal but high-profile ambassador for the university, with frequent and proud mentions of her CU journalism degree during nightly newscasts on Channel 9,鈥� said John Leach (Jour鈥�74, MA鈥�79), who nominated her. Leach won the Alumni Recognition Award in 2018 and currently serves on the CMCI advisory board.
Since graduating from CU, Christiansen (Jour鈥�84) has served Colorado with 9News for more than 30 years. She is the lead anchor of their broadcast station, responsible for the 4, 5 and 10 p.m. newscasts. Additionally, in 2018, Christiansen became the female voice of Denver鈥檚 airport train and since 2016 has emceed 彩民宝典鈥檚 Alumni Awards ceremony.
Now it鈥檚 her turn to step back into the CU limelight this fall at the 94th awards event.
鈥淚 am so incredibly proud of CU and to be a graduate,鈥� Christiansen said. 鈥淵ou connect with people that you work with professionally and it鈥檚 a source of pride to say, 鈥榊eah, we were CU grads.鈥欌��
The university takes incredible pride in her accomplishments, as well.听
鈥淜im is such an incredible ambassador for CMCI,鈥� said Lori Bergen, founding dean of the college. 鈥淪he exemplifies the traits鈥攔eliability, enthusiasm, critical thinking鈥攖hat we want all our students to emulate in their studies and as they go out into the world. We take pride in all she鈥檚 accomplished and are thrilled to celebrate this honor alongside her.鈥澨�
Because Christiansen regularly emcees the event, she didn鈥檛 think twice when she got the email. In fact, 鈥淚 literally read it three times鈥� before the news sunk in that she was being honored, she said. 鈥淚t was great news.鈥�
She鈥檚 an avid fan of the Colorado Buffaloes, regularly attending football games and amplifying their successes on social media. And she remains a fixture of 彩民宝典, like when she interviewed fellow alumna Savannah Sellers (Jour鈥�13), the 2019 commencement speaker. And Christiansen鈥檚 son, Tanner Feith, continued her legacy by completing a marketing degree this year.